would shooting a truck with a tank filled with fuel (gasoline) make it blow up like it does in the movies? Why/why not?
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No. Refer to Mythbusters: they actually tested this. The stoicheometric (sp?) ratio is way off. So, explosions need three things (just like a fire) to occur, and they have to be in the right proportions: a source of oxidizer (usually just the air), a source of fuel (the gasoline in the tank), AND. a source of heat or ignition (some chemicals have an “auto-ignition temperature, a temperature at which they will burst into flame without an ignition source, assuming the other two parts are present). Gasoline, IIRC, has a stiochiometric ratio of between 2% and 15% or something like (I probably got I wrong) fuel to air. Outside of that mixture: no fire, no matter how you try to light it. Inside of that ratio: fire or explosion, depending on certain other factors.
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